Nothing Gold Can Stay
by potatochip53
Summary: Gabriel was once pure. All angels were. That changed when the human race created sin, because after all, nobody's perfect.


**14 Billion Years Ago**

It is said that there was once nothing. That the only thing that existed was darkness. Then, it is written in ancient texts that a man came along and said the words, "Let there be light". From then on, there was light. The man separated the light and the dark. He called it day and night. His name was God. God created the Earth and human life itself. There are many people who know the tale of the beginning of creation. Humanity owes it's life to God. He is the father, the son, and the holy spirit. But before humanity was created, there were beings of intense light that radiated good and pure energy. These were the sons of God before the humans came along. They obeyed God and remained untainted, never even thinking of anything as absurd as rebellion. They were considered his holy servants.

We know them by the term of angels. Oh yes, there are many angels. From Balthazar to Zachariah to Anael, there are hundred in the ranks of angels today. But in the beginning, there were only four. They were more powerful than all of their brothers, known as Archangels. The first was Michael, the Prince of the Heavenly Host. Michael was the oldest, the leader and the most powerful. He obeyed and held God above everyone, including his brothers. The second was Samael, the Lightbringer. He would ignite the stars in the sky every night, tinging the navy sky with pinpricks of hopeful white light. Samael wanted free will over everything, but his quest eventually turned sour as Michael threw him out. From then on he was dubbed Lucifer and sent to rot in Hell for eternity. Third was Raphael, the healer. He healed the sick and reduced addiction for any and all who suffered. Last was Gabriel, the messenger. He was to bring revelations and was said to have helped the Prophet Daniel understand his visions.

They were the four Archangels who served under God's command. But then humanity was created and along with it, sin. The Heavenly Host stood strong against the onslaught of pure sin that the human race had somehow managed to create. Angels, after all, were one of God's greatest creations. But even the Bible had some things wrong. Not even God himself was perfect. Eventually every living thing will fall to sin. It's only a matter of time.

 **5 years ago**

Sin is described as irresistible. If that's true, then how did the Heavenly Host and the Creator himself stay so pure? The answer is simple. They didn't. Lucifer was the first to fall. The temptation of free will was too much. Michael the next. He held justice far too high. Some things are easily forgivable. Then Raphael, who thought himself to be rightful ruler. Healers always become too confident. Lastly, Gabriel. He just wanted his family back, so he ran and took out his anger on murders and rapists. Although Lucifer is the only one who physically plummeted, they all eventually fell from grace.

It was during one of Gabriel's many episodes of being a Trickster when he met somebody who radiated pure sin and yet, had the purest aura that Gabriel had only seen before sin was even created. It was a man by the name of Samuel Winchester. He had just lost his girlfriend to a fire that seemed to have had a demonic presence. Just a boy who had left Stanford with his brother. A hunter. Gabriel mentally shrugged, the Trickster juice must've been throwing off his grace. It was just another lowly human in grief who wanted revenge. Nothing really that new.

It would be years later that Gabriel would finally meet Sam Winchester and his brother Dean. He let them win. Let them think that he was now a dead Trickster, just another monster that had been hunted down and killed by the Winchester brothers who were becoming quite notorious in the supernatural world. Then, after giving them just enough time to recuperate, Gabriel popped back up again. Back then, it had all been just a game to him. He was an Archangel, no lowly hunter could take him down. But then the Winchester's told their story of an apocalypse coming to destroy the entire world and how they had to stop it. Gabriel, naturally, tried to snark his way out of it. The Winchester's seemed to have psychic powers though, because they called him out on it. They called Gabriel a coward. Dean told him to get over himself because everybody has family issues and why was he so special.

The two brothers intrigued Gabriel. Anybody who stood up and called an Archangel a coward straight to his face had balls of steel. Agreeing to help stop the apocalypse was probably the first helpful decision Gabriel had made in millenia. At first it was tense. He wasn't trusted and had literally made Sam watch as he killed Dean over and over again in his mind. Although the Archangel did have to admit, that may have been a bit brutal and over the top. In his defense, all Gabriel had wanted was to desensitize Sam so that when Dean did die, it didn't take as much of a toll on his emotional state. The hunters were still neurotic about every single thing that Gabriel did. It wasn't until one of his brother's, Castiel, popped in, that they calmed down. And even then it was probably because Castiel's reaction to Gabriel was akin to one of a person reuniting with a long lost loved one.

Even then, full trust wasn't gained until Gabriel had somehow managed to save what each person cared about most. For Dean, it was catching Sam as he was almost thrown off a cliff by a poltergeist and then making the sky rain pie. For Sam, it was diving in front of an angel blade that was about to impale both Dean and Cas and sharing knowledge about angelic lore. For Cas, it was using his Archangelic powers to heal Dean back from the brink of death, something Castiel didn't have near enough grace to successfully do.

From then on out, boy was it a fun ride. Gabriel's favorite past time was probably turning the Impala pink to watch Dean's face get all red and Sam burst out laughing. He would also throw M&M's as he rode in the car just to annoy everyone. There was also the occasion that he convinced Castiel that Dean was actually in love with the Impala. Yeah, they're not supposed to talk about all the ways that one went wrong. The atmosphere between the four gradually become lighter as Gabriel was integrated into Team Free Will. However; there are times when Dean and Sam forget just how powerful Gabriel is. For example, when Gabriel blasted out an entire legion of demons without batting an eye. Never forget that Archangels are Heaven's most powerful weapon and no matter how playful Gabriel may seem, he can be downright deadly.

 **1 year ago**

Gabriel had been with Team Free Will for almost a year when it happened. He'd been focused on a much higher level demon when he sensed another approaching a clueless Sam from behind. There hadn't been time to yell a warning so Gabriel flew in front of the demon's blade that had been aimed straight at Sam's back, ready to plunge through his heart and causing so much damage that not even Gabriel would've been able to repair it. Normally nothing would've happened and the knife would've bounced straight off of his grace, but of course, being with the Winchester's tended to dampen luck. So as a result, Gabriel was quite surprised when he felt the stabbing pain of an angel blade through his grace and into his shoulder.

The Winchester's were lucky enough to recognize the telltale hum of angel grace as they immediately screwed their eyes shut as Gabriel's pissed off grace filled the air and lashed every demon in the vicinity. Castiel was the first up and looked over the hole in Gabriel's shoulder with a concerned look in his eyes. There was a white glow emanating from the center, leaking grace. Footsteps echoed through the broken down warehouse district as Dean's voice sounded from behind Cas. "Dude. The hell happened to you?"

Gabriel opened his mouth to answer but Castiel was a step ahead, "Gabriel stepped in front of a demon that was trying to stab Sam. Unfortunately, this specific demon seemed to have somehow acquired an angel blade which was able to penetrate Gabriel's grace and therefore wound him."

Sam approached, pulling a roll of gauze and some peroxide out of a duffel. "Looks like you get to heal the old fashioned way." Gabriel groaned. That meant using his grace was off limits. His wound needed all of the grace to heal. Sam poured the peroxide into the wound as Gabriel hissed. Wrapping gauze tightly around the Archangels shoulder, Sam laughed as he was met with a piercing glare from his patient. "Sorry Gabe. Looks like you got yourself your first hunting injury."

Later that night at the motel, Gabriel fell asleep for the first time in millennia, although it was on Dean's bed. The older Winchester was about to push him off before he realized that Gabriel was actually sprawled out asleep. Huffing, Dean relocated to Sam's bed and immediately dropped off. Sam reluctantly crawled into bed next to Gabriel's tiny body. Listening to the quiet, Sam sighed. "I'm really glad you're ok Gabe."

Unbeknownst to him, Gabriel's mouth curved into a smile.

 **6 months ago**

Sam laughed as he watched Gabriel order a large double chocolate milkshake as they sat in the diner with Dean and Cas. An Archangel with an enormous sweet tooth. Who would've thought? The waitress sauntered over and delivered Gabe his milkshake, Sam his salad, and both Dean and Cas their large greasy burgers. Life was good. The apocalypse was still nigh and Sam had no idea what they were going to do, but the last six months had been surprisingly nice. The hunts were all simple cases of ghosts and vamps with the occasional wendigo thrown in for good measure.

In Sam's opinion, Team Free Will had hit a lucky break. Gabriel had integrated into the group awhile back, so it almost seemed as if they were all a family. The family that Sam had missed all those years. But he would never say that out loud. Dean would never let him live it down. Gabriel purposely slurped his milkshake, eyes sparkling as Dean gave him an annoyed look. Sam looked down at his salad and smiled as he mixed in the dressing. Yes, Bobby wasn't here and dad was God knows where, but it felt like home to Sam. Gabriel annoying Dean into angered grunts while Sam and Cas shared amused looks and dug into their food. It felt good. Almost like home.

 **1 month ago**

Sam winced as a demon nicked his shoulder with a blade. Normally he wouldn't be worried about it, but Dean was surrounded by a horde similar to Sam's while both Cas and Gabe were dealing with another high level demon that rivaled Abbadon. Yeah, things had started to go downhill, but when you're a Winchester, you've come to accept it.

Sure, neither Sam nor Dean had gotten a full eight hours of sleep since that night at the diner. And ok, both angels were starting to look just a tad depleted, but Team Free Will was still fighting strong. Sam slashed downward, his engraved blade cutting through another demon. Of course these past months were hard. The apocalypse was nearing. It was supposed to be like, what, in a few weeks? A month? More demons were to be expected. What wasn't to be expected was the increase in other cases like poltergeists and werewolves. Maybe the apocalypse nearing was a sign of some sort? Sending a signal to all paranormal beings across the states?

Sam honestly had no idea. The one thing he did know was that they really needed to finish their plan to push Lucifer back into the cage. They had all four of the Horsemen's rings, so the portal to the cage was complete. But the current plan was to have Gabriel distract Lucifer while Cas lowered his grace enough to go unnoticed and nudge the devil in. Not really that great of a plan.

Slicing through another demon, Sam sighed in relief as he looked around and found no more. He had been starting to tire. He checked over Dean and, finding no injuries, made his way to the pair of angels. Maybe it wasn't the best plan, but Sam was really tired and wanted to pass out for a few hours. It had to get better eventually, right?

 **Now**

Sam was wrong. Sam was so horribly, horribly wrong. It could get worse. It could definitely get so much worse. They weren't prepared. Michael and Lucifer, they were too powerful. Even fighting against each other there was no way to stop them. Lucifer had kept Nick as his vessel while Michael had Adam. And even without his true vessel, Lucifer was still much more powerful than Gabe. They never had a chance.

Sam tried to inhale, but his throat felt blocked and a metallic liquid seemed to gurgle out of his mouth. They were no match for the two most powerful Archangels in existence, even with Gabriel and Cas. Sam's side hurt. It really hurt. There was pain radiating throughout his entire torso. His legs. Sam couldn't move his legs. His vision swam as explosions rocked the ground. They were too late. Michael and Lucifer were currently clashing and it seemed like the world was crumbling from all of the power.

Sam wanted to throw up as nausea washed over him. The pain made his stomach roll. It hurt so bad. Fires danced in the corners of his vision. The world was ending and he couldn't do a damn thing about it. Shifting his upper body and moving to sit up caused Sam to cry out in pain, head thudding back against the concrete as black lines danced across his eyesight. This was it. This was actually the end.

There was a blur above Sam's eyes. It was human shaped. And small. Gabriel. His voice was loud against Sam's ear.

"Hey Sammy, how we doing?"

Sam grumbled. Gabriel's voice sounded shaky. Why was it so shaky? Sam hated it when Gabe's voice was shaky. It meant he was really worried about something. What was he worried about? Sam didn't know. The pain was only an echo now and he was getting tired.

"Hey, HEY! No sleeping on me now Sasquatch. Just wait. Stay with me."

Sam jerked his eyes open. He was just so tired and sleep just sounded so nice and warm.

"M'tired Gabe." He mumbled incoherently, "Hurts. J'st wna rest fer a bit."

Sam could feel Gabriel's hands shaking. Why was he shaking? Something really bad must've happened.

"Come on. Come on. Please. I can fix this. I can fix this. Why can't I just fix this ?" Gabriel was half mumbling half yelling.

Sam could feel pricks of warmth entering his system where Gabriel's hands were set on his torso, where the pain was. The warmth wasn't enough though. Sam could feel himself fading into the warm void of sleep. It just seemed so welcoming. But Sam was scared. The void looked so lonely. He whimpered in fear.

"Shh. It's ok Sammy. I'm here." Gabriel's voice came like a warm blanket, shielding Sam from the fear. "It's ok Sammy. It's ok." But Sam still struggled, crying out in pain and fear.

"Shh. Please Sam it's ok. It's ok. Just. Just close your eyes and count to seven. And when you wake you'll be in Heaven. Please Sam. Let's count together."

 _1_

It hurt. It hurt so bad.

 _2_

It felt like his nerves were on fire.

 _3_

But Gabriel was there.

 _4_

Sam wasn't alone.

 _5_

Maybe he could just nap for a bit. Gabriel would still be here when he woke up.

 _6_

Yeah. Sam'll just rest his eyes for a second.

 _7_

The wail of a broken angel echoed across the Heavens.


End file.
